The First Train Journey
by niceonejames
Summary: The Marauder's first train journey to Hogwarts.
1. James

James Potter was excited.  
More excited than the first time his father had let him have a go on his broomstick, in fact.  
He couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts.  
And as he stood there on Platform 9¾, watching the smoke billowing up in clouds from the Hogwarts Express which he would soon be boarding, he'd never felt better.

He took in his surroundings, the excited chatter of older pupils, and the hoots and squeaks of the pets they clutched. The majestic scarlet of the train which stood out against the dreary gray of the station's walls. Every single thing.

His parents had told him many times about the best years of their lives, and the hijinks they'd got up to. His father had gushed about Gryffindor, the house which James hoped to be sorted into, and slated Slytherin - Gryffindor's traditional 'opponent', James father had told him - whilst James' mother looked on, disapproving etched into her features.

'You'd best be off, James,' said Charlus Potter, waving a hand toward the train, where students were now filing in. 'Remember to not get sorted into Slytherin!' He finished with a wink.

'Slytherin isn't that bad, honestly Charlie,' Dorea Potter shook her head, torn between amusement and annoyance at her husband's attitude toward her former house.

'Well, you turned out alright, Dory, but you were one of the lucky ones… others weren't so lucky.'

Dorea ignored his comment, turning to hug her son before he departed.

'Remember to keep out of trouble!' She smiled, and gave her husband an eye of warning over James' back.

James walked over to his father, who had a mischievous glint in his eye, one which James had been known to share over the years, such as when James had 'accidentally' set fire to the family cat at the age of 4.

'Yes, James, try not to get into too much trouble,' Charlus said, giving his son a grin, which James understood. He knew his dad had included 'too much' deliberately, and gave him a knowing look, much to his dad's delight.

'Remember the cloak,' Charlus whispered, careful to keep his words out of his wife's hearing. 'It's in your trunk. Use it well.'

James grinned up at his dad.

'Have a great year, son.'

And with one last parting look, James joined the other students on the train.


	2. Lily

Lily Evans stared down at the floor of the train. Her first day hadn't started well. A silent tear slid down her face, and she gave a heavy sigh.

She heard some-one else slip in beside her, but knowing who it was, she continued to stare intently out of the window. The loud boys with whom she was sharing the compartment with talked on, filling the space with noise.

'I don't want to talk to you,' Lily told Severus Snape, her best friend.

'Why not?' he asked.

'Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore,' she stuttered.

'So what?'

Lily gave him a look of contempt, before telling him huffily: 'So she's my sister!'

Lily raised her arm up to dry her eyes on her sleeve, not hearing her friend's words.

'But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!' he told her, attempting to lift her spirits, also showing his excitement himself.

Lily gave a nod, smiling slightly from her friend.

'You'd better be in Slytherin,' he told her, smiling at her now.

'Slytherin?'

Lily heard a voice perk up from the other corner of the compartment. One of the loud boys was speaking. He was tall for the age of eleven, and had jet black hair and round rimmed glasses. The other loud boy had long, wavy brown hair, blue eyes which glinted mischievously. He gave off a laidback demeanor, but his casual smirk which he had before possessed had slipped off his face.

The black haired boy spoke again.

'Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you, Sirius?'

His friend, who seemed to be named Sirius, did not smile, though.

'My whole family have been in Slytherin,' he stated simply.

'Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!' the other boy laughed.

Sirius cast him a grin.

'Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice, James?'

The other boy named James did not even take a moment to ponder his response, quickly saying: '"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!"'

'Like my dad,' James added, grinning with pride.

Severus snorted, and everyone in the small compartment turned to stare at him, James frowning.

'Got a problem with that?' he asked threateningly.

'No,' Sev sneered, 'If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—'

'Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?' the boy named Sirius remarked, and James creased over, his laughter echoing around the room.

Lily looked at them both with immense dislike, and a frown set onto her face.

'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.'

'Oooooo…' James and Sirius teased, earning them a sour look from Lily.

A leg shot out in front of Severus as an attempt to trip him.

'See ya, Snivellus!' James shouted, as Lily exited the compartment, her head held high, and arm linked through her best friend's.

'Ignore those arrogant toerags, Sev,' Lily told Severus, who was fuming over the incident. 'They're just stupid, silly little boys! I hope they're not in my house…'

And with that, Lily and Severus began to search for another compartment, Severus so riled up with dislike for the two loud boys in his old compartment, that he bumped into another boy who was clutching a book, and had 3 long, red scars coursing down his face, and he was heading to where Severus and Lily had just come from.


	3. Sirius

The train clunked along the track on the way to Hogwarts, as Sirius began to laugh again at one of his new friend, James', stories.

'I don't know, the cat was just on fire!' James laughed, wiping one of his eyes.

'Oh godric, James!' Sirius began to laugh even harder, but stopped as soon as the compartment door slid suddenly open to reveal a pale boy, who was holding 'Hogwarts: A History' in his hands. He also had 2 thin scars running down his face, which intrigued Sirius. He'd have to ask about that soon. The boy took a seat opposite Sirius and James, and looked out of the window with a great interest, watching the scenery fly by.

'Oh, sorry,' the boy spoke, 'Do you mind if I sit here? All the other compartments were full, plus some-one set off a dungbomb down the corridor—' he made a face and crinkled up his nose. 'Not nice.'

'It's fine,' James smiled. 'It's fine that you're here, as long as you're not as whiny as the girl who was here before you—'

'Or as greasy as her friend Snivellis, eugh!' Sirius interjected, cringing.

The boy seemed happy to have met some-one who seemed to want to talk to him, and he nodded.

'Anyway, what's your name?' Sirius asked.

'Remus… Remus Lupin.'

'Ah, nice to meet you, Remus.'

The train journey continued, and the boys conversed about many different things along the way.

'My parents, being the pureblood mania idiots that they are, named me after a STAR,' Sirius rolled his eyes dramatically as James grinned. 'I mean, you guys all get normal names, then I'm over here, with 'Sirius'. You will never know how many times I have heard the pun today…' Sirius said the word 'pun' with a certain menace and glared at James, who grinned even wider.

'Come on, don't be so serious, Sirius! I know it's your name, but—' James laughed, before being tackled by Sirius.

'Remus is a pretty weird name, too.' Remus noted thoughtfully.

'Remus Lupin… I have no idea why, but it reminds me of the moon, mate.'

Remus paled considerably at James' words, much to his two friend's confusion.

'Well—Well… I guess it does soundy quite 'moony'…' he gave Sirius and James an attempt at a smile.

'Yeah,' said James vaguely, obviously pondering something else, although Sirius had no idea what-so-ever what he was actually thinking.

The train clattered over more of the track, nearing Hogwarts more and more with every passing minute…

'That's the 10th time he's done that now!' James remarked out of the blue as they all snacked on the wide variety of sweets James had bought for them all to share.

'Who done what?' said Sirius blankly, which made James chuckle slightly.

'This kid has walked past our compartment 10 times now!' James said, gesturing to the door. 'There he goes again!'

A small, chubby boy, whose hair flopped into his face had hurried past again, a look of panic etched into his features.

'Perhaps we should see if he's okay? He's probably a first year, like us.' Remus said, and moved to get up.

He pulled open the door with one hand, and as the panicked supposed first year ran past again, he had a brief chat with him, before bringing him in.

'James, Sirius, this is Peter.'

The chubby boy named Peter nodded vigorously.

'Peter P-Pettigrew… nice to meet you both,' he spluttered quickly, causing James and Sirius to exchange looks.

'Peter's robes… have been turned pink.' Remus stated simply, as Peter nodded again, turning a bright pink, possibly similar to the shade his robes had unfortunately become.

And so, the Marauders' friendship was formed.


End file.
